2017 Shayrat missile strike

The 2017 Shayrat missile strike (7 April 2017) occurred when US Navy warships USS Ross and USS Porter fired a total of 59 Tomahawk missiles at the Syrian Shayrat Airbase in Homs governorate, killing 16 Syrians and destroying 9 planes. the missile strike was carried out in response to the Syrian government's use of hemical weapons in a massacre of over 100 civilians (including many women and children) at Khan Shaykhun. 23 Tomahawk missiles hit their targets in the base, killing a general and 7 soldiers, while 9 civilians were killed in the bombardment. The US Navy targeted aircraft, aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage, ammunition supply bunkers, defense systems, and radars, and US president Donald Trump claimed that the missile strike was meant to be a warning to Bashar al-Assad to discontinue the use of chemical weapons during the Syrian Civil War. The United Kingdom, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Poland, Norway, Romania, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates praised the US attack on Syria, while the Netherlands encouraged a peaceful resolution to the conflict, and Russia and Iran condemned the act of aggression. Reactions back in the USA were mixed, as many people were driven by the emotions caused by the images of the children killed in the Khan Shaykhun attack, while many realists believed that the act of aggression could lead to an escalation in US-Russian tensions and even another world war. Republican Party leaders Paul Ryan, John McCain, Lindsay Graham, and Marco Rubio supported the attack, as did Democratic Party leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, while Republican Party leader Rand Paul and Democratic leaders Ted Lieu, Seth Moulton, Chris Coons, and Tulsi Gabbard condemned the attack. Many of those in favor of the attack justified it as a warning to Syria, a long-awaited reaction to Assad's use of chemical weapons, and vengeance for the victims of the Khan Shaykhun attack, while those against it argued that it was an act of aggression, an invasion of a foreign country, a possible flashpoint for another world war, and a waste of $93,810,000 (the cost of the missiles) on just a few Syrian soldiers. The attack was the first intentional US attack on the Syrian Arab Army during the Syrian Civil War.